


Ritual

by voxmyriad



Series: Commander Cody Week 2k21 [5]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Codywan if you want it to be, Gen, I made it up but I really want to try it now, I wish I knew what kind of tea this is, It's the little things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 07:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30102513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voxmyriad/pseuds/voxmyriad
Summary: It wasn't about the tea.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: Commander Cody Week 2k21 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2208858
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	Ritual

**Author's Note:**

> I highly recommend making a pot of tea with a friend and drinking it together while talking. It's a great stress relief method and it even works remotely. Take care of yourselves <3

The ritual of drinking tea after a battle had begun right away, without either of them noticing. After one of their very early battles together, they'd both found themselves in Cody's office, weary and silent, bowed by the weight of their losses. He'd stayed quiet, still feeling his way with his new general, not knowing what to say, but his General had embraced the silence. That first time, Obi-Wan had finished his cup of what must have been, in retrospect, very mediocre tea, thanked him quite honestly, and left, looking far better than he'd seemed when he'd arrived.

Since then, they'd begun meeting after every battle, if only for a few minutes.

It wasn't about the tea.

There wasn't room for frills out here, but Cody always made space for a tin of the tea he'd learned was General Kenobi's favorite. It was light, floral to the nose, with a spicy warmth in the aftertaste. It brought back, not memories—Cody had no memories from this—but the _idea_ of memories. Nostalgia for the memories he didn't have.

He'd learned to prepare the tea with just the right temperature of water, just the right ratio of leaves, steeping it for just the right amount of time.

It wasn't about the brew.

Tonight, he'd timed it perfectly: the tea was just beginning to release its spicy floral scent as Obi-Wan chimed the door. Cody answered and was rewarded with Obi-Wan's immediate inhale.

"Cody," Obi-Wan greeted him with his habitual kind smile, exhaustion heavy in his eyes. "That smells delicious."

"The usual, sir," Cody said, stepping back to allow him inside, waving at the tiny fold-down table. It was hardly big enough for Cody to sit at by himself, let alone both of them to get their knees beneath it.

It wasn't about the table.

There was no view. Cody's office adjoined his quarters, and officers didn't have quarters along the hull. There was a risk of depressurization in a battle, that was the theory.

It wasn't about the view.

"Thank you, Cody." Obi-Wan settled on one of the tiny stools, and some of the tension seemed to drain out of him as he did.

"It's my pleasure, sir," Cody said. And it was.

Cody's office was sparse, even after two years of the war. He didn't have a nice pair of elegant cups to serve their tea in, just standard-issue mugs from the mess waiting on the table.

It wasn't about the serving.

It wasn't about the tea. It wasn't about the impractical table, or the utilitarian mugs he poured the delicate brew into, or meeting in Cody's rather cramped office instead of somewhere with a view.

It was about _time._ General Kenobi spent hour upon hour fighting alongside Cody's men, and the rest of his hours dealing with the business of the Jedi Council. If Cody didn't do this, if they hadn't fallen into this ritual, Obi-Wan would have nothing but meditation to vent his frustrations into the Force.

Cody wasn't Force-sensitive. He didn't know how effective a technique that was. Likely it helped immensely, or Obi-Wan wouldn't be able to function at all. But Cody went through the ritual now, and Obi-Wan left their soft, easy tea sessions looking _lighter_ , every single time.

It was about peace. Wherever they could find it.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr at [voxmyriad](https://voxmyriad.tumblr.com) for clone feelings and thirst


End file.
